An association is an organization with or without legal personality, which results from a legal converged meeting of several people, who wish to achieve a common goal.
The term association means, on one hand the social practice of establishing and managing associations (as organizations with autonomy and democratic management bodies such as: general assembly, management and supervisory boards) and, on the other hand, it stands for an associative practice as a non-profitable organization, where all “partners” pursue common goals.
As a form of social organization, the association has a voluntary nature, where several persons gather as an instrument of individual satisfaction. There’s a difference between an association with legal personality and associations with no legal personality or commissions, but firstly, it’s important to distinguish collective associations with and without legal personality.

Constitution of Associations

As settled in paragraph 1 of Article 167º of the Regulation of Public Contracts: "The act of establishing an association shall specify the benefits or services with which all associative members must co-operate and contribute in terms of social property; its name, goal and location and opening hours, as well as the association’s lasting period, when not constituted for an indefinite period."

Regulation Decrees

Regulation decrees are a set of rules that guide the association’s activity with corporative character. Besides allowing its creation, they also permit to identify and control the association’s goals and ways of working.